A message from Kyle Caldwell, president and CEO of CMF. 

“What does equity mean to Michigan philanthropy?” Nearly a year ago, I invited us all to ask and answer this question. I deliberately did not indicate how I would answer the question, nor did I offer a definition for the word “equity.” My hope was to provide an opportunity for all to explore this question with open minds, giving hearts and enduring courage, to give you a forum and our support. We believed that your answers, your struggles, would let CMF know how we should best lead our community of philanthropy. We did not anticipate navigating this journey in the midst of a pandemic, economic downturn and a reckoning with racial injustice.

Through your responses to these crises, an answer is beginning to emerge. As a start, we’re seeing that equity for our community of philanthropy is about action. In every corner of Michigan there are changemakers working to create positive outcomes, bringing hope and paving paths forward guided by generosity, for the love of humankind.

In Midland, there’s 6-year-old Ellie who set up a socially-distanced lemonade stand for the Midland Area Community Foundation’s (MACF) flood relief fund. She’s raised over $800. MACF calls Ellie their youngest philanthropist and her flourishing fundraising efforts have earned her a branded moniker: Ellie’s Lemonade Stand: For Good. For Ever. For All. 

When disaster strikes, socioeconomic inequities can become even more apparent. As we recover, we also have the opportunity to reform, to re-examine the systems that marginalize underserved communities. Disaster can also bring out the best in each of us, as partnerships rooted in advancing equity form and strengthen, and pure generosity, like that of young Ellie, lifts our spirits.

In a bustling area of Battle Creek, there’s now a green space dotted with flowers that’s a designated racial healing area. The Urban Memorial and Racial Healing Garden was born from a partnership with the Battle Creek Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) collaborative and the Southwest Michigan Urban League. Together they are creating a space for community connections and healing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further crystalized the need for action to address the root causes of racism as we see the notably higher rates of COVID-19 infection and deaths among people of color. We are advancing policy work to create sustainable and equitable change in public health, the economy and other domains. We also have to continue building relationships and trust through critical efforts like the healing-centered components of TRHT.

The Michigan Justice Fund is a funders collaborative led by the Hudson-Webber Foundation in partnership with several other CMF members, working to address racial disparities and inequities in our justice system across several domains including health, economic security and mobility, and community investment and well-being. The fund is currently working with a learning cohort of frontline organizations to develop a strategic roadmap for supporting a thriving environment to advance justice reform initiatives. 

As we have engaged in listening with the field and asked questions to deepen our understanding of your struggles and your successes, one unequivocal conclusion is clear: The need for equity is apparent and its fulfillment will mean everything. The solutions to inequity in race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomics and beyond will remain complicated and may be difficult to recognize, let alone achieve, but for Michigan philanthropy equity must be our imperative and we must take action.

If you believe as I do that philanthropy embodies its literal translation ─ acts for the love of humankind ─ any commitment we make for the future must begin with a commitment to ensuring every Michigander has fair, accessible and barrier-free opportunity for success and well-being. Philanthropy’s role is to identify and advance ways to make this aspiration a reality, recognizing where we have privilege, using that power for equitable change and helping to amplify the voices of others.

Next month, during our Annual Conference, the CMF Board of Trustees will share a new strategic vision for CMF. This new vision clearly defines the path forward for our community of philanthropy, with equity at the center of our work. So that equity is not a “lens” we can take on and off, but rather the way we’ll focus ourselves to see and examine everything, always.